After the 3DS launched at a historically high $250 last March, it took only four months of disappointing sales performance before Nintendo announced a massive price drop. The Vita has only been available in the US for about two months now, but someanalysts are already saying Sony needs to lower its $250 minimum asking price in order to stay competitive. Current trends in the system's sales, as well as the prices being offered by some online sellers, show that these analysts might have a point.

Early sales data definitely ought to have the company worried about the Vita's sustainability. In Japan, Vita sales have been dropping consistently since the system launched in December, reaching a new all-time low of just 8,250 units sold for the week ending April 15. That's less than one-sixth of the sales the lower-priced 3DS saw that same week. It's also a few thousand units worse than the performance for Sony's aging PSP hardware.

In the US, neither Sony nor NPD officially announced precisely how many Vitas were sold in March, but leaked estimates point to sales in the 205,000 to 215,000 range. That's not a horrible number for a new system launching outside the holiday season, but it's telling that the Vita sold fewer units in the entire month of March than the 225,000 it sold in the four days following its late February launch.

It's possible that this is just a post-launch lull that will turn around once some new system-selling software comes along. But there's reason to believe that might not be enough. In Japan, Vita title Gravity Rush managed to launch as the second-most popular title in the country in early February, but still couldn't stop hardware sales from declining to a new low for the game's launch week.

Maybe customers are slow to embrace the Vita because of the system's price, rather than any lack of quality software. But how can we tell what kind of a price the market is willing to pay for the system? The online marketplace can be instructive here. After all, third-party sellers on sites like eBay and Amazon have to offer the Vita at prices that consumers will actually be willing to pay, unlike traditional retailers that are practically forced by Sony to offer the system at the standard $249 suggested price (or $299 for the 3G equipped version).

And the online pricing trends aren't too encouraging for Sony. A look at recent eBaysales data shows the average purchase price for both new and used Vita systems has been dropping slowly but steadily since the system launched, to the point where "Buy It Now" auctions for new systems are currently averaging $10 to $25 below the MSRP, depending on the model.

The situation is similar among Amazon's third-party sellers, who also have to price their products according to market demands. According to Amazon price tracking site CamelCamelCamel, the asking price for a new WiFi Vita dipped to a low of $235 in early April before bouncing back slightly in recent weeks. For the 3G-equipped model, the third-party asking price for a new unit has dipped from the $300 MSRP to just $280.

The small pricing differences being offered online might not seem that significant, but it's a bit illuminating here to look at the online pricing history for the 3DS. According to CamelCamelCamel, the price for a new 3DS from Amazon's third-party sellers bounced between about $200 and $235 in the months after the system was launched at $250. That price obviously dropped significantly after Nintendo announced its price drop in July, and then spiked briefly during the craziness of the holiday season.

But it's the 3DS's online pricing in 2012 that has been really interesting. The average third-party Amazon sales price has stayed at or above Nintendo's $169 suggested price for the past four months or so, while "Buy it Now" prices on eBay hover at a stable $5 to $10 below the suggested price. When you compare this performance to the larger discounts sellers were offering on new systems after the 3DS launched, it suggests that Nintendo has since found a much better market equilibrium for its system.

The pricing and sales data for the Vita is probably still a bit too rough to be conclusive on this score, but early indications are definitely pointing toward Sony not being at a similarly sustainable price equilibrium for the Vita. And finding that equilibrium could lead to a sales bonanza for the company; observe that, when Amazon offered used Vitas at a clearance price of $162.49 earlier this week, the entire stock ran out in just a couple of hours. Sony should pay close attention to the Vita's performance in these online markets as it continues to consider how best to price its portable.

Kyle Orland
Kyle is the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica, specializing in video game hardware and software. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He is based in the Washington, DC area. Emailkyle.orland@arstechnica.com//Twitter@KyleOrl

48 Reader Comments

3DS unfortunately has Monster Hunter 4 as an exclusive, and that was the game that turned around the PSP in Japan. Nintendo probably paid them off, and Sony doesn't have the money to do that any more given their quarterly earnings.

What games are upcoming that will make people want a Vita apart from Persona?

And finding that equilibrium could lead to a sales bonanza for the company

If you sell lots of products and go bankrupt in the process it doesn't help you. Also people can sometimes be a bit hyperactive when asking for lower prices. The PS3 still has a ridiculously high price for a system of that age and it is outselling 360 and killing Wii worldwide

And finding that equilibrium could lead to a sales bonanza for the company

If you sell lots of products and go bankrupt in the process it doesn't help you. Also people can sometimes be a bit hyperactive when asking for lower prices. The PS3 still has a ridiculously high price for a system of that age and it is outselling 360 and killing Wii worldwide

Since when has the PS3 been outselling the 360? The 360 has been the number one selling console for 15 months straight, thanks in no small part to Kinect.

And finding that equilibrium could lead to a sales bonanza for the company

If you sell lots of products and go bankrupt in the process it doesn't help you. Also people can sometimes be a bit hyperactive when asking for lower prices. The PS3 still has a ridiculously high price for a system of that age and it is outselling 360 and killing Wii worldwide

Since when has the PS3 been outselling the 360? The 360 has been the number one selling console for 15 months straight, thanks in no small part to Kinect.

You missed the "worldwide" part. The 360 has been selling well in the US, but has been weak everywhere else.

For the size of the games and the need to push digital distribution they need to include 16 gb memory. The price doesn't seem too high compared to tablets and other electronics with similar components but all of those have memory included. I want the Vita but I'm seriously put off by the $100 dollar memory card.

Also the user interface is one of the worst things I've seen for a major device like this. I figure they have about a year to iron out the kinks and if they don't have a much improved product in 2013 then they won't have a chance at making a dent in the market.

I was an early PS Vita adopter, but I have to admit that $300 for the 3G version made my wallet smart. Admittedly, sometimes people consider high dollar purchases for things like that are worth it, ie: new smartphone. Some might consider the Vita worth it, but I'm already regretting my purchase a bit. I do hope Sony drops the price a bit, but if they do, they should definitely offer an "apology package" like Nintendo did for 3DS early adopters.

Edit: I forgot to mention, but Sony seriously needs to drop the prices on those memory cards. I only bought the 3G version because it came with an 8GB card, otherwise I'd have saved myself some cash and gotten the wifi version.

Remember the Vita has a higher minimum price then $250 as it hid the actual cost of the unit by making you buy it's highly inflated in price though low performance (yes it was tested on eurogamer) proprietary SDCards. 8Gb adding $35 to the price, which I might add is woefully inadequate as you can only really hold one game on there if that later on when it gets filled up with system stuff or songs and video; or pay $99 for the 32Gb version. So to have to model you want to have it's going to cost you another $75+.

I don't know about the general consumer, but the reason I haven't purchased one is because of the negative user experience I had with my PSP and my PS3 coupled with Sony's very anti-consumer practices (the removal of OtherOS and their subsequent handling of attempts to circumnavigate said removal through brute litigation).

Together, they've made me extremely wary of adopting Sony products. I've sold my PS3 and will probably sell my PSP for very cheap. In a different world I might suck it up and live with them, but in a world with Nintendo, Microsoft, smartphones and PCs, I just have too many alternatives for gaming to put up with Sony's mistakes.

I paid full price for the 3G version of the Vita and do not regret it. It's such a beautiful piece of hardware and I've already spent many hours playing on it that I think Sony deserves my money. While I know not everyone can afford to pay full price (especially these days with the economy), I understand why a price drop may be necessary, but it's the market's call. Not that anyone claimed it was, but personally, I feel the Vita is priced just right, based on the power it's packing and build quality. It's not overpriced or anything.

Also, I hear that the Vita will eventually allow remote play for any PS3 game, and not just a select few things. A (ridiculously simple) 3rd party hack enables this functionality. Rumor has it that it will become an official feature in the future. You can play PS1 games remotely, though, which is pretty cool (since I'm still playing Metal Gear Solid that way, these days).

I got mine through a special deal with an exclusive Canadian gaming club called the "G-List" - it was $199 for the $299 bundle, came with a 4GB card, the system, a hard case, and Little Deviants. I then added a $99 32GB card.

I can tell you this: $300 for the 32GB system is a good price. $400 isn't.

It's an amazing piece of hardware and I absolutely love it, but I wouldn't have paid retail for it. It needs a price drop.

I have no interest in a portable game machine for more than $99 USD anymore. With an iPhone or iPad, I've got a decent game machine that also handles web browsing and other tasks well.

Eddie Wilson wrote:

It's such a small unit. What is the appeal for something that small? Is it an addiction of some type? It's a mystery to me.

You've obviously never played Tetris on a classic GameBoy. The portability is a big draw. Being able to stuff it in a pocket or purse and take it everywhere is very appealing. Less so with modern smartphones, but some franchises simply aren't available in any other format.

Remember the Vita has a higher minimum price then $250 as it hid the actual cost of the unit by making you buy it's highly inflated in price though low performance (yes it was tested on eurogamer) proprietary SDCards. 8Gb adding $35 to the price, which I might add is woefully inadequate as you can only really hold one game on there if that later on when it gets filled up with system stuff or songs and video; or pay $99 for the 32Gb version. So to have to model you want to have it's going to cost you another $75+.

Agree, you HAVE to have the memory card. It saves your profile, to tie into the PSN and trophy system, along with being the only place to save your game to. I got a PSP this Xmas for $130 w/2 free games. But then I had to go and order a memory chip still for $30 (at least if want some decent space). And with PSP digital games only way to be compatible with Vita, you would prefer to stick to digital if the price is right.

3DS at least comes with a 2Gb card. I think most games if not all still save to the game cart. Why Vita games do that do this is beyond me or why it does not have internal memory. Better off getting an iPod touch almost.

3DS unfortunately has Monster Hunter 4 as an exclusive, and that was the game that turned around the PSP in Japan. Nintendo probably paid them off, and Sony doesn't have the money to do that any more given their quarterly earnings.

What games are upcoming that will make people want a Vita apart from Persona?

I don't think Nintendo paid them off. I think the real reason is that tech-wise, the 3DS is about on par with the PSP, so it made financial sense for Capcom to migrate Monster Hunter from the PSP to the 3DS because they can then be lazy and recycle their graphical assets. If they do a Vita title they'll actually have to upgrade the graphics, which would cost more. And we all know very well how greedy Capcom is these days...

Basically, the Vita's downfall with Japanese developers is that it's too powerful. Japanese developers love the low cost of development on handhelds, but the Vita has put the bar too high.

I own a Vita and I enjoy it a lot so far, but one has to face facts: it's flopping hard, and there are no signs of it ever getting back up. Even in Japan, ie. the only region where it had any hope of succeeding in the first place.

3DS unfortunately has Monster Hunter 4 as an exclusive, and that was the game that turned around the PSP in Japan. Nintendo probably paid them off, and Sony doesn't have the money to do that any more given their quarterly earnings.

What games are upcoming that will make people want a Vita apart from Persona?

This is probably a niche, but this is one that will convince a lot of my friends to buy one

I bought my bundle through Best Buy here in Canada when it launched. I got the early bundle. I currently have 5 games for the thing, but I only ever really play UMvC3 and have already finished Uncharted. The only other game that I really want right now is Rayman. There's just nothing else that I want sadly. I was looking forward to Dragon's Crown, but that's now a year away.

And finding that equilibrium could lead to a sales bonanza for the company

If you sell lots of products and go bankrupt in the process it doesn't help you. Also people can sometimes be a bit hyperactive when asking for lower prices. The PS3 still has a ridiculously high price for a system of that age and it is outselling 360 and killing Wii worldwide

The idea here, as it often is in the console market, would be to make less/lose money on the hardware to get a good base of units to sell software to, which is where you make money. Holding on to slim hardware profits at the expense of being able to sell software in sufficient numbers is not a good strategy in the console market.

Well that sucks for me if true, considering I picked up a Vita a week ago.

Honestly have mixed feelings about the thing. On the one hand it delivers what it promises: near-console quality gaming experience on the go, with a very nice screen and excellent physical controls, plus capacitive touch. Also: access to a back catalog of PSP games, media player functionality, and smartphone-like "apps".

On the other hand.... hardware is super-bulky compared to a phone, limited game selection, few promising games on the horizon, no new apps in sight, god-awful web browser, no YouTube, games are too expensive, no PS1 classics (except by streaming from a PS3, which I don't have), mediocre media player apps, limited format support, terrible content management, unbearably slow PC file transfers, USB transfers only, poor quality camera, AR is gimmicky and stupid, lousy iPhone ripoff interface done wrong, and worst of all PSN won't accept my credit card, I have to buy prepaid cards if I want to use the Playstation store (I realize this issue only affects me and not most users, but reading forums lots of others have apparently had this problem). EDIT: oh and I forgot to mention outrageously priced memory cards.

Needless to say I have a bit of buyer's remorse. Hopefully Sony will address some of my gripes, cause I think the system has a lot of promise.

And finding that equilibrium could lead to a sales bonanza for the company

If you sell lots of products and go bankrupt in the process it doesn't help you. Also people can sometimes be a bit hyperactive when asking for lower prices. The PS3 still has a ridiculously high price for a system of that age and it is outselling 360 and killing Wii worldwide

Since when has the PS3 been outselling the 360? The 360 has been the number one selling console for 15 months straight, thanks in no small part to Kinect.

Of the 40 or so Vita games out right now, a staggering amount are ports from other systems, and the remaining titles just haven't gotten good reviews (Army Corps of Hell, Shinobido 2, Little Deviants). When the system starts picking up more steam (like with Persona 4 The Golden - granted another port, but a really high-profile one that Japan seems stoked about...or Soul Sacrifice, an original title that may or may not be tied to the Demons/Dark Souls franchise) I think there'll be a snowball effect.

It's sad to see it doing so poorly as it is by far my favorite handheld since the GBA (and I buy pretty much every handheld.) The memory card requirements suck but past that (okay, and the sub-par battery life) pretty much everything about it is just great - and the screen is just unbelievable. I'm not regretting this one at all.

It's such a small unit. What is the appeal for something that small? Is it an addiction of some type? It's a mystery to me.

Well, its like a nut... you can play with... outside...

But srsly, I do think I will get a Vita this year but I will be waiting until Black Friday/Cyber Monday, because those will be THE cheapest I can get one this year. I certainly don't have any "need" for one before then. I'm wondering how many potential Vita buyers will do the same, regardless of what Sony does to the price between now and then. I just hope Sony doesn't give up on it by that point.

The cost + the cost of the unnecessarily-proprietary memory card is what gets me. It's a nice system, but yet again with the memory stick approach? Give me a break. You couldn't just use an SD card and drop, say, the rear touchpad?

Biggest problem is that its a Sony product. Sony is a company that has proven to be completely anti-consumer over the last half decade. Everything from CD rootkits to suing users trying to use their PS3s that they paid for. Constantly removing features from the PS3. Treating customers as their own personal ATM machine with comments like "We want people to think 'I will work extra hours to be able to afford one" in regards to the PS3 pricing prior to the launch of the hardware.

Sony's anti-consumer stance brings up another problem with the Vita. The proprietary memory cards. They're way too expensive for what they are.

There are also some technical problems with the PS Vita that hold people back from buying it. Game loading times (which will hopefully be fixed as newer games come out) are terrible. Every time I've played a Vita demo unit I've waited just as long for the games to load as I spent playing the game. Thats completely unacceptable, especially considering that everything about the Vita uses flash memory.

Battery life is bad too. When you combine the 3-5 hours of battery life with the horrible loading times, you're looking at realistically only getting 2-3 hours of actual game play battery life out of the system.

And theres the games too. The only interesting game on the system right now is the Vita version of Mortal Kombat. Sony's franchises just don't do it for people any more. Wipeout was fun back in the day. But the graphics on the new version make it difficult to play. Hot Shots Golf is a little too technical for what it is. Should be more like Let's Golf 1 and 2 on iOS. The Uncharted games have always been about as boring as a video game could be and only sell because there isn't really anything else good on the PS3. The Vita version is no different. Thanks to the fact that the game isn't rendered at native resolution on an OLED screen, the graphics get really bad really fast.

The rear touchpad was completely unnecessary too. Maybe release an updated version without it?

Some people will say its smartphone and tablet gaming thats killing off portable games. Thats not true. The 3DS is now selling better than the DS did at the same point in its life time. I have an iPhone and an iPad and the games on those two devices always leave me wanting more or thinking they're stupid. Case in point for smartphone/tablet games being stupid would be all the games with virtual buttons and analog sticks. Those just don't work. Or the "tilt to steer" games on an iPad. With that said, as someone who does have an iPhone and an iPad, I would love a portable game device. I was interested in the Vita until Sony announced the memory card prices. Then actually playing one and seeing the games not being rendered at native resolution on top of the loading times and bad battery life completely killed my interest in it. I'm 100% interested in the 3DS. Especially for the classic Game Boy games. I had a GB back in the day and freakin loved it. Only thing keeping me from buying one is the battery life. 3 to 5 hours isn't enough.

Quote:

"The 360 has been the number one selling console for 15 months straight"

USA vs. Worldwide. Worldwide the PS3 outsells the xbox by a lot in the last years. Seriously Americans have a slight egocentric world view :-)

Is that why the Xbox 360 is still several million units ahead of the PS3 in overall world wide sales? Is that why Xbox 360 versions of games outsell the PS3 versions by millions?

The idea here, as it often is in the console market, would be to make less/lose money on the hardware to get a good base of units to sell software to, which is where you make money.

Only works up to a point. the console guys make around 10$ profit on each game sold and the consoles had an attachement rate of under 10. i.e. the average Ps2 buyer bought less than ten games in his lifetime. Which means the money you can make from the software is limited and you need to limit the losses you take from each hardware sale. If you subsidize it by a hundred bucks you still do not make a dime.

Now even selling at a total loss might be a valid option in the first year or so to make sure your console survives till the later more profitable years but there is a limit to the validity. Sometimes you just have to wait for the good games to arrive. Or accept defeat.

While it's interesting to see some sales data used to support the "make it cheaper" arguments, the data used leaves quite a bit to be desired. So far as I'm aware, there haven't been any shortages of Vita units. That means, if I want to go buy one today, I can wander over to the nearest Walmart/Target/Gamestop/etc and pick one up for $250+ tax.

Since that's the case, why would anyone pay any more than $225 to get it on ebay? Unless you're getting some sort of deal, why would you put up with a provider like eBay (which is less reliable than conventional retailers) and wait for the product to be shipped (which can take a signifcant amount of time depending upon the seller)?

And finding that equilibrium could lead to a sales bonanza for the company

If you sell lots of products and go bankrupt in the process it doesn't help you. Also people can sometimes be a bit hyperactive when asking for lower prices. The PS3 still has a ridiculously high price for a system of that age and it is outselling 360 and killing Wii worldwide

Since when has the PS3 been outselling the 360? The 360 has been the number one selling console for 15 months straight, thanks in no small part to Kinect.

US vs Worldwide.

[Citation needed] The only numbers I can find are from vgchartz it is says Xbox360 65M vs. 63M PS3 though that makes them basically even. All of the systems are overpriced and at this point in the console cycle should be $99 by now

The only numbers I can find are from vgchartz it is says Xbox360 65M vs. 63M PS3 though that makes them basically even.

lifetime they are more or less even, the 360 started a year earlier after all, but the point were sales of the recent year(s). Nobody denies that the PS3 sold like wet dirt when it was sold at 600$ and had practically no games (still hate myself for buying it soon after the euro launch) But now they are still at 250-350 and selling much more than the competition.

Not sure if they make up for all their initial losses, but they would make much less money if they would have cut the price more aggressively 1-2 years ago when they were selling less. Price is always only one option, Apple is selling 500$ tablets with arguably much less hardware and a huge markup in the millions.

Sometimes you just have to wait till the games are there, unless your platform is dead by then.